(source: Horsenation) Here are some new super cute Valentines Day activities for therapeutic riding lessons from Carrie of HorsePower! Thank you so much for sharing, Carrie! Valentines Cones Setup: 10-15 cones set up in a large circle Valentine boxes under each cone (she bought her at the grocery store Osco) that contain candy and a message inside … Continue reading
Arena Etiquette & Protocol
When you teach a group lesson or have two instructors teaching private lessons in the same arena, you need some sort of arena etiquette to keep things safe. Usually this is unspoken common knowledge, or the barn may have a list of rules posted. In therapeutic riding this is especially important as there are many … Continue reading
Tactile Activity Book
Here is a great idea for a tactile activity book to use during therapeutic riding lessons. My friend Carrie of HorsePower sent me the link from one of her friends, who thought it would work great as a camp activity: every day the kid make one page, then at the end of the week put them all together … Continue reading
Volunteer Selection For Horse and Rider
There are a few things to keep in mind when pairing your volunteers with your riders. I just added this information to the handouts I go over with our Instructors in Training about volunteer management, which includes the Volunteer Management and Addressing Volunteers posts. VOLUNTEER SELECTION FOR THE RIDER Considerations: For choosing Leaders: Has enough horse experience to … Continue reading
Selecting the Horse for a Rider with Disabilities
This is a worksheet exercise for Instructor In Training to practice selecting a horse for a rider. We just started up our Instructor Training Program for the year and I’m trying to make our classroom sessions more interactive instead of just lecture, and this is a result of it. To give you some back ground, Week … Continue reading
Monthly Themes
As you are thinking about the new year, consider creating monthly or quarterly themes! Quarterly Themes One barn I worked at did quarterly themes one year. Each quarter (or session, or semester, or however you do it) the director picked the theme and assigned an instructor to put together a small presentation with lesson ideas. … Continue reading
2015 State of the Blog Report
Happy New Year! As tradition, it’s time for the annual State of the Blog Report. I just like seeing where readers are from and what they like to read! This year I tried to make it a not so fancy infograph. Enjoy! Thank you everyone for reading and following the blog! It’s fun to share this … Continue reading
A few links – Knees, Hips, Fear, Skills List
Here are a few links to enjoy over the holidays! ~ The Chronicle of the Horse Forums – Equestrians with Disabilities – an interesting resource for ideas about some of the disabilities you may be teaching ~ A nice little article about the Rider’s Knees – The Forgotten Joint and what they should be doing while riding. ~ How about … Continue reading
Christmas Games from Nan
Here are some great Christmas game ideas from a reader, Nan. Thank you Nan for letting me post these! Decorate the Tree I use an old “mug stand” wrapped in tinsel as my “Funny Tree” and the rider has to choose an ornament to hang on the tree. Ornament and Spoon I do Ornament on … Continue reading
Christmas Matching Game
I absolutely love the dollar store for game ideas. I need to go there more often than just for Christmas. This morning I stopped by and was delighted to find 3 stockings and 3 stuffed animals that matched! So today we had an obstacle course that included stopping at the barrel, getting a stuffed animal … Continue reading